Russian diplomat meets with Argentinian candidate for IAEA top job

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has met with Argentina’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, who has presented his candidacy for IAEA Director General, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed. The meeting took place in Moscow on Tuesday.

"They have had a substantive exchange of opinions on key areas of IAEA activity, including the election of the agency’s new Director General," the ministry noted.

Due to the death of former IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in July of this year, the IAEA Board of Governors allowed its member states to nominate their candidates for the agency’s top job until September 5. The candidates for IAEA Director General are: IAEA Acting Director General Cornel Feruta (Romania), Ambassador to IAEA Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Lassina Zerbo (Burkina Faso), and head of Slovakia's Nuclear Regulatory Authority Marta Ziakova. The new head of the IAEA will be appointed in October, assuming their duties no later than January 1, 2020.